this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the lebanese army retakes government buildings in beirut after they were stormed by protesters angry over tuesday's explosion. thousands demand regime change on the streets. protesters are hit by tear gas, a police officer dies in the violence. japan remembers the victims of nagasaki, 75 years after the atom bomb was dropped on the city. no compromise in congress on how much to fund out—of—work americans, so president trump forces though his plans with executive orders.

a paradise polluted. more oil spills from a stricken ship off the coast of the mauritius, as the island declares an environmental emergency. hello and welcome to bbc news. thousands of people have taken to the streets of the lebanese capital beirut, in anger at the country's leaders, after this week's devastating explosion in the port area of the city. groups of protestors stormed a number of official buildings and briefly occupied the foreign ministry before being driven out by the army. earlier, riot police used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds and one police officer was killed in the clashes. our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, spent the day among protesters. shouting

lebanon's rage against its elite is erupting anew. a city in the aftermath of an explosion is filled with tear gas and anger. the protests have barely started and, already, there's tear—gas coming in here from all sides. the protesters are falling back at the moment, but they keep continuing to push forward. "we are rebels, free men," said this man. "they fired directly at us." and a city still reeling from the shock of the blast was met with violent force. they came to condemn the government they blame for the destruction of their city and their lives. and this is the fate lebanon's politicians deserve, they said. can you tell me in english what's written? "we are going to get our justice. " they'd started with a rollcall of the dead. among the names — 43 syrians, and the wife of the dutch ambassador to lebanon. they carried aloft the pictures of those killed. we're fed up — we're fed up.

this is our country — this is our country. i want to defend our country. our president is useless. our prime minister is useless. everyone in this government is useless. they killed us. we have literally reached rock bottom. i don't talk about it because i'm going to cry. these were not just ha rd—core protesters. lebanese of all walks of life joined the demo as well. among them, this woman. earlier, with her husband, george, she showed us their destroyed apartment. their business was in the port too. everyone is similar for where we are today. for losing our money, for losing ourjobs, for losing our businesses, for losing our homes, for losing our loved ones, ourfriends, everything. they are all to be blamed, they are all to be hanged. at the morning at the port, prime minister hassan diab acknowledged the anger, but took little responsibility.

absolutely, they have the right to be angry and furious, notjust because of this. this is absolutely diabolical, what happened. but, however, they were also furious even before that for three decades of unbelievable corruption. the violence reached a crescendo, and then...it was over. the police and army regained control. this is a country ruled by force and backroom deals. they have been calling for revolution here for almost a year. but lebanon's elite has staying power. the force of the disaster, which engulfed this city, may not be enough to bring change here. quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. another of our correspondents in beirut, carine torbey, says the protestors‘ anger is directed against the country's entire system. it's very unlikely that what what the prime minister suggested would really be seen

as a acceptable proposal for the masses. i mean, what people are angry about is notjust, you know, the specific government. it is what they call the "regime". the regime has to do with the group of secretarian and long—time entrenched political leaders who are considered as the main rulers of this country. and what people are asking is a complete change of mentality of the way this country is run, because they perceive that, basically, what happened on tuesday was the epitome of decades of corruption, mismanagement and total negligence. so, basically, what the prime minister tried to do is to calm the masses, to tell them that, "i will be leaving probably

in a couple of months, "if the other political leaders can agree on some sort "of transition, or of an alternative." he has called for early elections. but this proposal itself is not 100% guaranteed to bring change. many fear that elections at this time might bring in the same political parties and, therefore, they don't consider that this is the real way for change. also, it remains to be seen how cooperative the other political groups will be with the prime minister's proposal. a third correspondent in beirut, lina sinjab, has been speaking to protestors. i am actuallyjoined now by one of the protesters who was just there and she just come out. tell us what happened and what is going to happen next? they have just been throwing tear gasses on us and we're just fighting back. this is enough. they've taken our money, they've taken our pride, they're killing us and they

still don't want to resign. this is too much. we can't take it anymore. this is too much. they're going to fight. we're going to fight back. they're fire tear gasses. we're still going in, we're still fighting. it will not end here. and what is your next plan? what is going to happen? are you planning to protest tomorrow again? if they're planning to — if the tear—gas is to get us away, we're not going to leave. we're going to stay, we're going to fight. this is enough. we can't take it anymore. they have just killed us. every place in beirut is destroyed. my house is destroyed. thank god no—one was hurt. but most people lost everything. most people... sorry about the loud noise because of the motorcycle. can you repeat what you are trying to say? i was saying, like, i only lost... my house was damaged a bit but other people lost everything, their kids, their houses, their money, everything. they don't have anything. they are living on the streets right now. some of the people among the protesters are calling for the international community to come in and help them topple

the government and get rid of the politicians. what do you say about that? that's what we want. but, like, as we can see from social media and all of that, they are not even taking the aids just because they're not going directly to them, and going directly to the people. the people want it, like, we need the aids. it is not what they want. thank you very much. that was one of the protesters. as you can see, the anger that they are living through, and they seem to be determined, and as some people are leaving, there are still many people at the square, protesting, and it still seems that some riots, operations are taking place with clashes with the army. it is 75 years since the us dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki injapan, leading to the end of the second world war. in the last hour, prime minister abe shinzo spoke at the anniversary event.

bells rang out to commemorate when the bomb struck nagasaki 75 years ago. in the last hour, prime minister abe shinzo spoke at the anniversary event. it's estimated that 7a,000 more people died in nagasaki, on this day, 9 august, and 170,000 more when the first atom bomb was dropped on hiroshima three days before. the bombs led to japan's surrender in world war ii but the radiation from the bombs caused the deaths of thousands in the months and years that followed. those who survived are called ‘hibakusha' in japanese. terumi tanaka is one of them — he was a 13—year—old school pupil when the bomb was dropped in his hometown, and recalls the moment of the explosion. translation: all of a sudden i heard a big sound. i did not know what the sound was. but as soon as i thought i heard the big sound my

surroundings turned bright white. people say it was a flash but to me everything turned bright white. i did not hear a sound so i was surprised. i felt this was something terrible so i ran downstairs and ducked. i covered my ears and closed my eyes and once i ducked down i lost consciousness. in the burnt ruins there were shapes that resembled human beings, or bodies that had crumbled into bones everywhere. rescuers did not arrive after three days so those who could not move and had not received help were hunched or lying on the ground. let's get some of

the day's other news. activists in brazil have released a 100,000 balloons in tribute to the people who have died of the coronavirus. brazilians are protesting against the way the president jair bolsonaro has handled the crisis. he has consistently played down the impact of the virus. two health ministers have resigned in protest. brazil now has the second highest death toll in the world, after the united states. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has angrily condemned a wave of street protests by his opponents, saying they were aiming to trample on democracy. for weeks, thousands of israelis have been staging protests calling for mr netanyahu's resignation. they're angry at his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and they say he shouldn't be in office while also being on trial for corruption. the people of belarus are going to the polls in a few hours' time to vote in the presidential election. the incumbent, alexander lukashenko, a man nicknamed by his critics as ‘europe's last dictator', is running for a sixth consecutive term. the authorities have arrested a second member of the opposition campaign. a close ally of svetla na tikhanovskaya, who is seen as the main challenger to

president alexander lukashenko, has been detained by the police. wearing a face mask will be compulsory in busy parts of paris from monday. it comes as coronavirus infections continue to rise in and around the french capital. scientific advisers warned on tuesday that france could lose control of the virus "at any time". presidenttrump has signed executive orders aimed at providing aid to us workers suffering the economic impact of the coronavirus. the move comes after talks with democrats on a rescue package broke down on friday. mr trump wants to defer payroll taxes, provide protection against eviction, extend zero interest loans for students and give unemployed americans higher benefits. the bbc‘s north america correspondent david willis sent us this report.

with a flick of the pen president trump sought both to bypass the elected lawmakers and defend once again the world's largest economy against the ravages of the coronavirus. through these four actions my administration will provide immediate and vital relief to american struggling in this difficult time. weeks of negotiation between democrats and the white house over yet another economic stimulus bill broke down on friday with the two sides still trillions of dollars apart. a call by the house speaker to meet in the middle went unheeded. so, again, will we believe we have again, will we believe we have a responsibility to try to find common ground? we will come down a trillion, you go up a trillion, and we can figure out how we do that without hurting america's working families. central to discussions, millions of americans found themselves out of work because

of the payments which are prevented many here from falling into poverty. president trump said they continue until the end of the year, albeit at a lower rate. that'll be a hardship for many. what say to that? it's not a hardship. this is the money they need. this is the money they want. and this gives them a great incentive to go back to work. this was much more than was originally agreed. 600 was a number that was there and, as you know, there was difficulty with the 600 number because it really was a disincentive. historically, of course, it is congress are not the president controls are spending here and democrats are expected to challenge the present‘s executive orders in the courts. he says funding for the additional unemployment trainers will come from money left over from previous coronavirus bills —— payments. while this as the coronavirus cases it number 5 million. it will confirm the president's

image as a man of action. but he needed to do something to shore up this believe it economy, with less than three months ago before the election. david willis, bbc news. staying with united states. just to give you an update on the numbers. the us coronavirus cases have risen by at least 54,203 on saturday to more than 54,203 on saturday to more than 5 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began. let's stay with that story and then go to australia to see how it co m pa res australia to see how it compares there, because that country has recorded 17 over 19 deaths in the past 24 hours, making it australia's that estate centres pandemic began. all the debts were in the state of victoria, where new restrictions were brought in following a spike in cases —— deaths. there is some hope the virus in the state is stabilising after just 300 virus in the state is stabilising afterjust 300 and 94 new cases were reported.

you are watching bbc news, the headlines. the lebanese army retakes government buildings in beirut after they were stormed by protesters angry over tuesday's explosion. japan marks the 75th anniversarsy of the atom bomb attack on the city of nagasaki, which took the lives of 70,000 people. france is sending equipment and technical advisers to the indian ocean island of mauritius after its prime minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill there. the authorities have declared a state of environmental emergency — after a japanese tanker ran aground two weeks ago. tim allman reports. paradise lost. the beautiful idyllic beaches of mauritius contaminated by thick, black oil. you can see it lapping at the shore, a dark, toxic tide, endangering wildlife and causing untold damage. and this is where it's all coming from, the mv wakashio, a stranded japanese tanker. look at the huge black streaks cutting through the emerald waters

of the indian ocean. there has not been any proper risk assessment done on the vessel to know the probability of the oil spill existing, so this is where we are today, and we are facing one of the major ecological crises that the island is facing. these satellite images show how the spill has just got worse and worse. this was the ship after it first ran aground. then, look again. a potential 4,000 tons of oil leaking into the sea. definitely, marine land is affected. it also affects the communities because there is a lot of fishermen who use the lagoon to fish and earn their living. the locals are doing what they can to try and protect this pristine environment, considered to have some of the finest coral

reefs in the world. but this is a small, impoverished nation dependent on tourism. france has offered to send help but with fears the tanker may break up, that aid may not arrive in time. tim allman, bbc news. to poland now, where thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the capital warsaw and many other cities. they're calling for the release of an lbgt activist. she was arrested on friday, accused of draping rainbow flags on statues and damaging a van that was covered in homophobic slogans. alanna petroff has the latest. thousands of protesters are standing up for a fellow activist, calling for her release, calling for an end to homophobia and attacks on the lgbt community. the arrested campaiger identifies as a woman named margo. the authorities

call her michael. in poland, which is a catholic country, homophobia is widespread. it's been called the worst country in the european union for lgbt rights. some poles believe homosexuals are paedophiles. the latest election injuly indicates this type of thinking isn't changing anytime soon. the ruling law and justice party repeatedly used anti—gay rhetoric in campaigning. it promised to defend traditional family values. it won with a 51% majority. this week, president andrzej duda was sworn in for another 5—year term. members of parliament in the opposition wore rainbow colours, a sign of defiance. many in the international community have raised concerns about poland's increasing intolerance. last month, the eu commissioner fo equality called out poland with this tweet:

she wrote this as the eu denied funding to six polish towns after they declared themselves lgbt—free zones. meanwhile, human rights watch this statement after the activist‘s arrest: the advocacy group and these protesters are concerned about the way the country is clamping down on freedom of expression. they worry about a possible sentence for margo, up to two years in prison. they want the authorities to let her go, and give them the freedom to live and love as they want, without persecution. alanna petroff, bbc news. the black box and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from an indian passenger aircraft that crashed in kerala, killing more than 18 people, including both pilots.

190 people were on board when the plane skidded off the runway and broke in two on friday night. jill mcgivering reports. the wreckage shows the force of the impact. the plane skidded off the edge of this table top runway and broke in two. that was after early attempts to land in heavy monsoon rains and high winds. the flight recorder just recovered may help investigators understand the final moment. locals who rushed to help describe the screaming, children cowering under seats and dazed survivors covered in blood. some of those rushed to hospital are critical with traumatic head and spine injuries. those who could paid tribute to the pilots the captain from a formerfighter pilot, had decades of experience. his young copilot got married last year and his wife is expecting their first child this month. translation: the pilot tried to land us safely in the rainy weather, it was cloudy, and around 7:00, 7:30 in the evening, we crash—landed. it was difficult to land. he tried a lot.

the passengers are mostly local people stranded in the gulf by the coronavirus and finally trying to come home. jill mcgivering, bbc news. the bbc radio presenter david whitely, known as sideman, has resigned. the dj said it follows the failure of the bbc‘s senior management to apologise for allowing the use of the n—word, in a news report about a racially aggravated assault. the bbc sanctioning the n—word set by a white person is something i can't rock with. i can't just something i can't rock with. i can'tjust smile something i can't rock with. i can't just smile for the process and act like everything is ok. when the slur was broadcast, more than 18,500 people complained. the bbc defended its decision, saying the victim's family wanted the word to be used to highlight the severity of the attack, although it did accept, people were upset, by its use.

one of india's leading film stars, amitabh bachchan, says he's been discharged from hospital after testing negative for the coronavirus. posting on twitter, he said "i told you guys i'd beat this," before thanking staff at mumbai's nanavati hospital where he and members of his family have been treated for the virus in recent weeks. his father, amitabh bachchan, one of bollywood's most revered stars, was discharged last week. abhishek‘s wife, the actress aishwarya rai, and their young daughter also had medical treatment after testing positive last month. the edinburgh festival, which attracts more than 4 million people to the city every summer, should have begun today — but the coronavirus pandemic means there'lljust be a few limited performances online. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon looks now at how the cancellation of one of the highpoints of the arts calendar is affecting the city. this is the reality of the edinburgh festivals this year. no audience.

masks, social distancing. a world—class cultural event moved online. i think it's an enormous loss. i think that for a lot of people who earn their living at this time of year, it's just a practical loss, which is quite profound. there's an enormous loss in terms ofjust the sense ofjoy. the festivals bring notjust culture but also cash and tourists to the city. but not this year. old town streets, usually packed with visitors and performers are much, are much, much quieter. do you like it like this? i do like it like this but i miss the people as well. edinburgh resident and bestselling author, val mcdermid, is one of many feeling the loss of august's cultural extravaganza. in many ways, i think the real catastrophe of covid is still to come. the economic catastrophe in my business and the arts, and what's going to happen with theatres? what's going to happen with concert halls? what's going to happen with gigs? all around the city, the small businesses, everything from bakeries, butcher shops, all sorts of shops that are just not

going to open again. the lack of tourists is having an impact. whether that's festival enthusiasts or wizarding fans, it has left the city centre tills much quieter than before. this time of year, we would have customers potentially queueing down the street to just come in and have a browse around and of course, at the moment, whilst we have reopened, the concern is that footfall is extremely low. some here see this as a chance to reimagine the city's relationship with its visitors, which they argue have in recent years, reached unsustainable levels. what makes edinburgh unique is the fact that people live here. and they work in the city centre. we do not want to become like a venice or genoa, but we are heading down that route. the festivals have a big impact on this small city, support thousands of jobs, and make it a global, cultural destination. those here who rely on tourists for their livelihoods will be hoping they return soon.

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. hello there. pressure is on to bring in the harvest. there is heavy rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for next week. at the moment, it's all about how high the temperatures are going to get. it wasn't quite as hot on saturday as it was on friday. but still, the temperature in hampshire reached 34 degrees. the highest temperatures were in sussex and at frittenden in kent, and it's these sort of areas that we'll see the focus of the heat again during sunday. we start with some very high temperatures in the morning in the south—east corner of england, perhaps 19—20 degrees. again, it's cooler as you had further north, maybe 4—5 in the north—west of scotland. in between, we have got this zone of cloud that's pushed in off the north sea. and there may be 1—2 light

showers in that as well. any shower threatening the far south—east should move away. gradually, the sunshine develops more widely, the cloud gets burned back onto some of those north sea coasts. we have got that onshore breeze keeping it a little bit cooler as well. with that sort of wind direction, it will be cooler across eastern scotland than western scotland. and in northern ireland, temperatures will reach 20 degrees. the heat,though, is really focused on the south midlands, southeast wales, the west country, southeast england and east anglia. 33—34, possibly even 35 degrees to the west of london. into next week, the heat will slowly subside, and it is only very slowly, but we have got this increasing risk of some torrential rain and thunderstorms. that could start to develop on sunday night into monday morning, and the focus looks like it's more of these western areas with those storms pushing their way northwards. now, large parts of the country will still be dry and quite sunny. more sunshine, perhaps, around some of those north seacoasts. but, again, the highest temperatures are towards the southeast of the uk. now, what's happening is that higher pressure is less

in charge of our weather. pressure is falling from the south, we've got a weather front trying to push in from the west as well. so the air is essentially destabilising, which is why we have got this increased risk of some very heavy and thundery rain. the devil is in the detail, and there is still a lot of uncertainty. but it looks like on tuesday, most of those downpours are moving northwards across northern england and scotland.

this is bbc news. the headlines: there've been violent clashes between police and the public, as mass protests took place in the lebanese capital beirut against the country's leadership. some government buildings were briefly occupied by protesters demanding a change of regime after tuesday's explosion. donald trump signs executive orders aimed at providing aid to us workers suffering the economic impact of the coronavirus. the move comes after talks with democrats on a rescue package broke down on friday. mr trump's proposals include protection against eviction, extending zero interest loans for students and increasing unemployment benefits. france is sending equipment and technical advisors to the indian ocean island of mauritius after its prime minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill there. president emmanuel macron said teams were being deployed from the nearby french island of reunion.